


Encounter

by SesshomaruFreak, thedrunkenwerewolf



Series: Heirverse: Phase 0 (Chessboards) [6]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Aizen being Aizen, Chess Metaphors, First Meetings, Foreshadowing, Heirverse: Phase 0, Loneliness, M/M, References to Depression, Teacher-Student Relationship, Voice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-12 20:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SesshomaruFreak/pseuds/SesshomaruFreak, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedrunkenwerewolf/pseuds/thedrunkenwerewolf
Summary: Aizen meets Gin.





	Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> I will go down with this ship. Much love to Time for running her eyes over this one for me and to Sesh for grammarhounding. Thanks to Bya for the lovely review that inspired the 'solve' lines :)
> 
> Notes: Mild depression references. Aizen being Aizen. Chessboards. Teacher/student relationship. All the foreshadowing. In-universe story crossreferences (specifically to Game). Bullshit gamemaster Aizen clearly not knowing hubris always comes before a fall.

_I've been everywhere man, looking for someone,_  
_Someone who can please me, love me all night long,_  
_I've been everywhere man, looking for you babe,_  
_looking for you babe, searching for you babe._

\- Rihanna [Where have you been?]

* * *

The alarm was incessant in its beeping. And Aizen rolled over, groaning, to shut off the infernal device. Great. Perfect. Just when the dream was getting so good, too...

Sighing, he buried his face in his pillow, reluctant to get out of bed just yet. What did it matter anyway? Just like any other day. Same shit, different day, that's what he always said. He often joked about it with Kyouka Suigetsu, that it was like being stuck in a timeloop. Soon he'd be leaving though. Soon. And he told himself if he could just hang on one more week, get through one more day, it'd be alright. So he put on his smile and acted the part, and everybody smiled back at him, and got on with things. He guessed it really was true, what they said. Smile and the world smiled with you. Cry and you'd cry alone.

Not that he'd cry in front of any of these pathetic fools, of course. He didn't have time. Didn't have nearly enough excuses let alone opportunities to pass any sentimental tears off as the mourning of a comrade's death – his troops were the best, they tended not to die, even the really stupid ones – or other such occasions. And he didn't dare show weakness. He was a lieutenant now. Someone of his status could not show weakness. It was a lesson he learned the hard way growing up on the Rukongai streets.

 _The strong prey on the weak, boy,_  the voice told him.  _Show them you're strong and they won't take advantage of you._

And it was right. Because the same logic applied everywhere.

 _Use others before they use you,_  it advised.

So he did. He fooled around, played with people, used them, broke their hearts. Because that was easier than being weak, than leaving himself open to getting hurt. Not that he could afford to let anyone in close enough to try. Not if the voice had anything to say about it.

Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.

But that didn't make it easy. Humans craved companionship, and for the most part, he was still human. So it wasn't easy at all. But then, life wasn't easy. Or fair.

This world is cruel.

People are cruel.

He pressed his face further into his pillow, trying to blot it out. The voice. The day. The world. But the sun still persisted in rising, so he scraped together some energy and made himself get out of bed and trudge to the bathroom. Once there, he stood in front of the mirror above the sink, and took in his dull, bored, vacant expression. He'd say he looked tired, but it wasn't from lack of sleep. In fact he probably slept too much.

He stared at himself, into his dull, empty eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Today I will be happy." he told himself. It had become his mantra over the years. Probably a lie but, tell yourself a lie for long enough and you'll start to believe it eventually, right?

He slowly got himself ready to face the day. Brushed his teeth. Took a shower. Dried himself off. Got dressed. And boiled the kettle to make himself a mug of tea, which he sat drinking while doing the newspaper crossword. It was his favourite way to start the day. He just couldn't drink coffee. He'd tried, but found it too bitter. He kept some to use as an emergency stimulant though, for the times he'd had to work through the night.

Once the crossword was done, he got out his files and flicked through them. He had to cover teaching his Captain's class on kidou at the academy, and he thought it wise to at least scan his eyes over the list of student's names. Beside the list of names, were their grades in various subjects. Namely: aptitude, kidou, hand to hand combat, sword skills. He scanned them all briefly. All of them boring, all of them mundane. Average, average, average. Really? Was there no-one remotely interesting in this class?

He kept skimming the list, name after pointless name, average boring grade after average boring grade. He sighed, about ready to give up and close the file to run over the lesson plan, when he caught sight of some very interesting numbers indeed. He raised an eyebrow, ah now this is more like it, he thought, looking at the name beside them.

Ichimaru Gin, hm? Unusual name.

He went to retrieve the file with that name on it and immediately began perusing it. Kyouka Suigetsu hovering over his shoulder. Which might have been annoying, but he was too comfortable with her and too captivated by the headshot photograph all students had to have in their file.

 _You seem inspired,_  she said.  _It makes a nice change._

_I'm merely interested in learning more, that's all._

_Of course,_ she answered. _Though her tone implied she didn't believe it. He is cute, though._

Aizen managed to crack a smile at that.  _Oh, you say that about all the boys,_  he teased. She laughed softly.

_Maybe, but I have a keen eye for beauty, you know. And it's not like you weren't thinking the same thing yourself._

He had to smile at that.  _Touche, my dear mirror princess. I'll admit he does have a certain charm. Maybe today won't be so boring, after all._

She giggled.  _Here's hoping. It would be fun if you got your hands on that little fox, wouldn't it?_

He smiled to himself.  _Yes, yes it would. In more ways than one._

 _Oh you naughty thing, you._  Kyouka snickered, reading his mind. And with that Aizen finished his tea, gathered his things, put on his glasses and smile, and headed out for his first day of teaching.

Who knew, this Gin might prove to be a great distraction from the tedium his life had become. Maybe Gin would even pull him out of the tired morass he'd been stuck in the last few decades, too. Doubtful of course. Many had tried and many had failed. But still, he had hope.

. . .

The classroom was noisy when he walked in, almost unbearably so. He almost didn't want to walk in there. But it was the last lecture of the day and if he could get through this one then he had the rest of the day to himself. And Gin was going to be in this class, so even more reason to go in there. He wanted to know if the boy really did live up to his reputation as a prodigy. Because there'd already been so much talk among not just the students, but the faculty, too. And Gin had piqued his interest. Which was a feat by itself. Not much tended to impress Aizen these days, unless it was something truly special. He just hoped Gin wouldn't disappoint.

So he took a deep breath and walked in, head high, shoulders back. Projecting confidence despite his nerves.

. . .

There was a lot of confusion when he walked in. Clearly they'd been expecting Hirako Shinji. But he knew how to silence unruly classrooms.

"Okay, quiet down," he said, loudly, in a voice that brooked no argument. Immediately the classroom fell silent.

Good. At least these brats had some basic respect.

"Right. Hello class, my name is Aizen Sousuke, I'm sure some of you know me as the lieutenant of the fifth, and I'll be teaching you today. I'm sure you were all expecting someone different, but Captain Hirako was called away on business, so instead you have me."

There was a bit of murmuring about this, but that quieted down pretty quickly.

"In this class you will learn the fundamentals of kidou, and then we'll move onto the more advanced techniques."

He paused, picked up a piece of chalk ready to start writing on the board, made sure to smile at the class – fake and plastic, though everyone seemed to buy it – and then continued. "Now as it's a new term, we'll start at the beginning."

He turned to face the class again, scanning the faces in front of him. "Can anyone tell me-"

He stopped, cut off mid-sentence, mid-thought, as a certain pair of fox-like eyes met his across the classroom. Open only slightly, yet just enough to give him a glimpse of their brilliant crimson colour. Keen, intelligent, bright eyes framed by equally bright silver hair. He could feel himself, his body, mind, heart go still. And he had to swallow the lump in his throat that he assumed was his heart making a desperate bid for the beautiful creature before him. A kitsune of myth amongst these peasants who called themselves nobility.

And his entire world shifted.

_Gods, the photo does not do you any justice, does it? You're even more beautiful in person._

He cleared his throat, remembering he had a job to do, a class to teach. And he forced himself to focus on the world around him again. It was then that he realised, the chalk had slipped from his hand and onto the floor. He hadn't even heard it clatter when it hit the floor.

"Oh." he said, stooping to pick it up while the class giggled at him. Yes, yes, go on and laugh, he thought bitterly. As if being caught off guard wasn't humiliating enough. But when he scanned the faces again, he did notice that to his everlasting credit, Gin didn't laugh. In fact, the smile on his face was more reassuring than anything. As if he were saying softly, 'yes, go on...'

So go on he did. Thankfully it was easy to play the role of the bumbling, nerdy professor. Especially since he looked the part, what with the glasses and librarian hairstyle. So he decided to play it up for them, and recovered quickly.

"Ah, oops, how clumsy of me." He smiled, laughing nervously. "My hands must be sweating." He laughed again, playing it off, cleared his throat and turning to write on the blackboard. "Right, now we'll begin, shall we? Who can tell me the four basic principles of kidou?"

After that, the lecture went off without a hitch. And for a whole glorious hour, he could feel Gin's eyes on him. Burning into him almost. And for the full hour, he was keenly aware of the boy studying him, weighing him up. Trying to solve him like he would a Rubik's Cube. A puzzle. And Aizen couldn't help but smile – when his back was to the class, of course. He wasn't that big of a fool to show his hand to all and sundry.

But Gin had intrigued him. Captivated him.

Of course, he didn't believe in that 'love at first sight' crap. Such a thing didn't exist. How could it?

But this was interesting. And he was beautiful. And maybe he could play with him a bit. It would be amusing to watch the little fox make a futile attempt to 'solve' him like a puzzle Gin clearly seemed to think he was...

Now there was a thought that needed some delving into. He made a mental note to think more on the logistics of such a scheme after class. Decide how to pursue his latest prey. If possible how to play him off that fool Kisuke to maximum effect.

. . .

Fortunately, Gin made that decision for him. Because after the bell rang and he dismissed the class, he waited until everyone else had gone and then sought him out. Gin approached shyly, a fox wary of the hunter. But he did his best to smile and put the fox at ease.

"Hello Gin, how are you?" he smiled warmly. Trying his best to be all the right things. Warm, polite, courteous. Gin smiled a little, so adorably shy, pleased his name had been remembered, and then he looked at Gin again.

"What can I do for you?"

_And where have you been all my life?_


End file.
